chaloner
Private
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
The soldier who came the farthest to fight for Michigan might be Felixz Balderry who was born in 1842 in the Philippine Islands. At the age of sixteen he joined the crew of an American merchant vessel captained by one Joseph S. Foster. For the next two years he sailed both the pacific and Atlantic Oceans. When Captain Foster retired from the sea to his farm in Leonidas, Michigan in 1860, he brought Balderry with him. Felix worked for Foster as a farm hand until December 7, 1863, when he enlisted in Company A of the 11th Michigan Volunteers. With many other new recruits, Balderry joined the 11th in the field with the 14th Corps at Rossville Georgia on Jaunuary 28, 1864.
In the Atlanta campaign that followed, Felix Balderry fought at Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw, Ruff's Station and the Siege of Atlanta. He finished the war in Tennessee and was mustered out on September, 16, 1865. After the war, Balderry worked as a tailor in Colon, Michigan, where he married Ada May Burns in 1885. A son Frank followed two years later. Felix Balderry died on August 18, 1895, of tuberculosis at the age of 49.
In the Atlanta campaign that followed, Felix Balderry fought at Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw, Ruff's Station and the Siege of Atlanta. He finished the war in Tennessee and was mustered out on September, 16, 1865. After the war, Balderry worked as a tailor in Colon, Michigan, where he married Ada May Burns in 1885. A son Frank followed two years later. Felix Balderry died on August 18, 1895, of tuberculosis at the age of 49.